Monsters
by Princess Phyre
Summary: Highschool/eventual fantasy world AU: Kikyou sees things no one else does: Monsters. Is she crazy? Or is she... gifted?
1. Solidity

A/N:   
Warnings: Rated T for violence, disturbing images, all around spookiness, language, sexuality, and a tiny bit of political incorrectness. By that last one I mean that in this first chapter, Kikyou mentally disses a burn victim's burn-victim-ness. (I don't think the same way she does about this stuff, so don't come after me with torches!)   
Comments: SO. I promise myself and anyone who reads this that I will NOT delete it like I did all my other chapter-y stories. Read and review please?   
Other stuff: This story will contain eventual Inu/Kik, but unlike my other stories, the pairing will not be the main focus.

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**Chapter One: Solidity**

* * *

"Kikyou Higurashi?"

Kikyou looked away from the windowsill she'd been staring at to meet her teacher's eyes.

"Yes?"

"I've been calling your name for the past five minutes."

"I'm very sorry."

"Was the answer, by any chance, written on the window frame?" She pointed to something written on the black board. Kikyou shook her head.

"Ah. Then I suppose it would have been smarter to look at _me _while I was telling you how to solve this?"

Kikyou nodded, and forced her eyes to stay trained on her teacher's lips. _DontlookDontlookDontlook_

Sitting on the window frame, revealing it's sharpened teeth in a goose-bump-inducing grin, was a monster.

Not that Kikyou was entirely convinced she even _believed _in monsters. Surely they were all just hallucinations. Hallucinations that she'd been seeing since the day she'd been born. Hallucinations that silently followed her wherever she went, watched her as she slept, ate, and even while she showered. Shape-shifting hallucinations that sometimes looked like the beasts and dragons she'd read about in fairy tales, but could easily change themselves so that they could almost pass off as human – even in that form, though, there would be something off, something not quite right; they had dog ears or cat tails or strange markings on their faces.

Maybe it was something to do with being young. All children claimed they saw things like that, didn't they? Monsters under their beds and in their closets, faces peering at them in the dark. So perhaps Kikyou was a late bloomer; she just hadn't grown out of it yet.

Her motto was "If I just ignore them, it will be like they don't even exist." All she had to do was act _normal, _and everyone believed she was.

The lunch bell rang, startling her from her haze and saving her from having to respond to the teacher's torments.

"What a _bitch_,"someone said in an effort to comfort her as they left the class room. Kikyou turned to see Tsubaki rolling her eyes. Kikyou shrugged noncommittally.

The cafeteria was set up with square tables lining the edges of the room, and smaller circular tables in the middle. The spaces between were narrow aisles that were tough for even Tsubaki, size zero, to navigate, let alone the hordes of teenagers that poured into the space, but somehow they all managed to find a place to sit.

Kikyou and Tsubaki seated themselves at one of the smaller, circular tables. It only had three chairs, and the third was soon filled by the last member of the trio, Onigumo.

"Can you even _believe _that test?" Tsubaki whined. Onigumo nodded in agreement when he was finished wolfing down a ham sandwich. Kikyou didn't answer; she was busy looking across the lunchroom.

There, an almost human-looking monster with a wolf's tail was drooling over Kagome, a freshmen girl with puffy black hair who liked to wear miniskirts.

Tsubaki followed Kikyou's gaze and commented, "I can't believe how much she looks like you. Are you _sure _you two aren't related? I mean, you have the same last name and everything."

Kikyou shook her head violently. "We look nothing alike." She protested, her face turning sour at the very idea of being compared to the girl.

The only time she'd had any interaction with Kagome was when they'd bumped into each other in the halls. Kikyou's books had gone flying, and Kagome stopped to help her pick them up.

"Sorry about that," she had said, handing Kikyou her English textbook and smiling. "Hey!" Kagome had said brightly when she got a good look at the other girl's face. "You look kind of like me, don't you?" Then she walked away.

Kikyou stood in the hall, turning over what Kagome said in her head, and her stomach started feeling sick. Ice-cold fear pierced through her. "I'm older than you," she whispered. "I was here first. It's the other way around. _You _look like _me_."

It was then that Kagome became the first person she'd ever hated, and she did truly _hate _her. True, she didn't even know the girl, but why should that matter? Kikyou spent the rest of her life being a good child, but whenever she passed Kagome in the halls, a chill of pure anger ran up and down her spine, and for once she didn't bother telling herself she was being immature.

She even almost found the fact that a monster was trying to get a glimpse down Kagome's shirt a little funny. _That's horrible! You can't think that way! _some part of her mind protested weakly, but Kikyou silenced it, reasoning that if Kagome didn't want supernatural beings peering at her breasts, well then, she should remember to put a bra on in the morning, shouldn't she?

"Yeah, Tsubaki, Kikyou's way prettier." Kikyou glanced at Onigumo, but immediately had to take her eyes away from him. She could never make eye contact with him; she was ashamed, but his face disgusted her.

Onigumo was a bad burn victim. The skin on his face was melted and burnt, and it stuck to his bones in multi colored patches. Half of his right ear was missing, and his eyes had bright red veins running through them.

She knew he loved her. She hoped he'd never tell her, because she was dreading rejecting him. She was only friends with the poor guy because she felt sorry for him –

_No! I'm friends with Onigumo because he's kind._ She cringed at the thought, thinking how pathetic it was that she couldn't even tell the truth when no one else could hear her.

Onigumo was kind, but only to Kikyou. Once she had seen him picking another boy, Miroku's pocket, and another time when she'd invited him and Tsubaki over to her house, she'd heard him calling her younger sister a "little shit-for-brains".

Maybe the real reason she forced herself to stay around Onigumo was not because she liked him or because she felt sorry for him, but because he seemed to keep the monsters at bay.

Not that they could hurt her, or even touch her. They tried to, all the time; they reached out and grabbed at her hair or her arms or her fingers, but their sharp fingers passed right through her. The fact that they weren't solid added to her suspicions that they weren't real.

Even so, having them following her wherever she went was unsettling, and something about Onigumo seemed to scare them off; maybe they were just as repulsed by him as she was.

"Are you going to eat that?" Kikyou eyed Tsubaki's abandoned chocolate bar. Tsubaki looked down on it wistfully but pushed it toward her friend.

"Get it away from me, I'm fat enough as it is."

Kikyou took the chocolate bar and bit in to it timidly – her mother never let her eat junk food, and she felt like a traitor as it went down her throat, but it tasted too good to stop, and she ate the whole thing.

It was only after she'd eaten the chocolate bar down that she remembered to argue. "Oh, don't be ridiculous! You're skinny. Too skinny. Here, eat some…" She sifted around inside her lunch box . "…raisins?"

"…Gee. Thanks." Tsubaki said dryly.

Wherever Kikyou and Onigumo went, Tsubaki went as well. There was never a day when all three of them weren't in school together, and they even had all the same classes.

That didn't mean Kikyou trusted Tsubaki. Something about her put Kikyou on her guard. Once in a while during class, Kikyou would catch the platinum-blond teen staring at her, eyes questioning, as if she suspected Kikyou knew something and was keeping it a secret just to torment her.

Or maybe that was just Kikyou's imagination. God knew it liked to play tricks on her.

The bell rang again, and lunch was over.

…

When she got to Global Studies, her second to last period, her teacher pulled her aside.

Ms. Yura shared Kagome's taste in clothing. Her current outfit consisted of a tight- fitting red sweater and something that resembled a head band more than a skirt.

"We have a new student. I think he looks lonely, don't you?" Kikyou looked around to see where she was pointing, but her classmates were still filing in, and it was hard to tell one of them from another.

"I thought maybe you could be his buddy for a few days, show him around–"

Kikyou's eyes widened as she fell on the new student. No one else could see that his hair was white, or that his eyes were yellow, or that he had _dog ears_, and no one else knew that this boy was–

"Inuyasha, this is Kikyou. She'll be helping you find your way around the school."

He smirked at her. He knew she knew, she could tell. He put out a clawed hand.

She stared back into his eyes and defiantly stuck out her own hand.

"Pleased to meet you."

"Right back at you."

She held onto the handshake a little too long, digging her cleanly manicured nails into the side of his hand.

"Monster," she added as Ms. Yura made her way back to the front of the class to begin her lesson.


	2. Hello Bitch

A/N:  
So, as it turns out, there are people who like this story (trust me, I'm just as surprised as you are.) Here's the second chapter, and as always, reviews are much appreciated.  
Oh! I forgot to put the disclaimer in last chapter, and since I'm too lazy to go back in and edit it, here it is now: I officially disclaim any character, setting, or plot that ever sprung from the pen of Takahashi-sama-sempai-san. I am but a lowly Inu-Yasha fan...  
*cough* And now on with the show.

* * *

**Hello Bitch**

**

* * *

**

Inuyasha stood in shock for a few minutes before Ms. Yura cleared her throat and asked him to take a seat. He chose the one next to Kikyou.

"The Aztecs," Ms. Yura began. "A fascinating civilization…"

Inuyasha was scribbling something, his long nails clicking against the pencil as it moved it across the paper. Kikyou kept her head facing the front of the classroom, but glanced at him from the side, trying to make out the words he was writing. Surely he wasn't taking notes? None of the boys took notes in this class – that is, none of the boys with the exception of Jakotsu, who seemed more interested in the back of Inuyasha than the front of Ms. Yura.

He dropped the paper to the floor and slid it over to her with his foot.

"So you're _that _Higurashi," the note read. "I thought it was the prettier one. You know, the one in the grade below us?"

As a general rule, Kikyou did not pass notes in class. She was both the president of the tenth grade _and _the captain of the Archery team, and she had an image to uphold, but suggesting that Kagome was prettier or more talented than her – she couldn't let that slide.

"That girl is a whore. Not even a smart whore. A stupid, stupid whore. Way too stupid to see freaks like you for what you are."

Inuyasha frowned he saw the note. She set her jaw, determined _not _to appear apologetic for the calling the girl a whore, or for calling the monster a freak.

He passed the slip of paper back to her with the words: "Don't be so quick to say that – she's a Higurashi too, you know. Looks like I touched a nerve, though, little miss sensitive, so I'll tell you what: I'll never say a word about her again if you give me the jewel."

Kikyou stared at the request in confusion.

"What jewel?" she started to write out, but was interrupted by Ms. Yura's voice.

"And what is this?" Kikyou lifted her head from her desk, and was met by the woman's breasts. The teacher was leaning very close to her desk, looking curiously at the note.

Her hand reached out for it, but before she could do anything, Inuyasha had stood up, snatched the note away, and stuffed it in his mouth.

All eyes in the room suddenly darted to Inuyasha, then to Kikyou and back again. Kikyou groaned inwardly, knowing the conclusion her classmates would immediately jump to –

"Looks like it was a _love _note." Miroku sat a couple seats behind her, but, God, she could just _hear _the sneer in his voice.

"It had better _not _have been." Jakotsu growled threateningly. Against her better judgment, she twisted around to see the boy's face. He was wearing purple eye shadow today, which complimented his skin tone nicely, she thought – slightly jealous, as she always felt foolish wearing eye shadow – but that was beside the point. Everyone knew Jakotsu kept a knife on him when he wasn't in school, and thanks to the school directory, her house wouldn't be hard to find. He leaned in close to her. "He's handsome, and I want him."

Inuyasha looked away, his face turning red. "Please _tell _me you're joking," he muttered. "Look, ugly, I really, _really_ don't swing that w–"

"And I. Always. Get. What. I. Want. The things that get in my way… tend to get hurt."

Kikyou and Inuyasha gulped simultaneously.

When Kikyou got scared – say, for example, when she was being threatened by a knife-savvy transvestite, she became almost dead on the outside. She smiled coldly at Jakotsu and said, "That's very nice for you. Let me assure you, if _that _is what you want –" she pointed to Inuyasha with her thumb "–Then I will do _nothing _to 'get in your way'. However, if you come _near _me with a weapon, it will be the last thing you ever do. They didn't make me captain of the Archery team for nothing, you know; I have very good aim. And at home, I have special arrows, ones without the little child-safe plastic tips they insist on capping the school arrows with. You know, it doesn't take very much to kill." She reached out and tapped a finger against his chest. "One arrow to the chest is all it takes for that… last… breath…"

At this point, Ms Yura, who had been busy staring at her hand mirror – she kept one in her desk, and sometimes she would spend ten or twenty minutes looking at it before class even begun – finally noticed the arguments going on in her class room.

"Class is dismissed early today!" Her voice was shrill.

They all stared up at her. A teacher had never dismissed class early. It was against the rules.

"What are you waiting for, brats? You heard me. Go. Set fire to things. Fondle each other. I don't care what you do, just get out of my class!" Had her hair grown longer in the past few minutes? Kikyou could have sworn that the last time she'd looked, it had been cropped above her ears, but now it looked like it extended a little bit past them

"Except for you, Inuyasha, Kikyou. I'd like to have a word with you two."

Kikyou's pulse raced. Would she be in trouble for threatening Jakotsu like that? The school had a no-tolerance policy when it came to violence. She prepared to defend herself. "Ms. Yura, he's a psychopath, he carries knives. It was self-defense–"

She held a finger to Kikyou's mouth, shushing her. Kikyou stared at the space between her head and her shoulder – there was no denying it now; Ms. Yura's hair had definitely grown again. Now it brushed against her neck.

Ms Yura ignored her and walked back to her desk for a moment. "Be right with you!" she sing-songed. Her hair now extended to her shoulders.

"Inuyasha," Kikyou said, her voice taking on an unnatural evenness.

"Mm?"

"This woman is one of you, isn't she?"

Before Inuyasha had a chance to answer, Yura started talking – to her hand mirror.

"I finally found the right one!"

"Lady, I think you've gone off the deep end," Inuyasha said, but he was quickly silenced when a strand of Ms. Yura's hair – which was now growing at an alarming rate, touching the floor – _reached out, wrapped around his stomach, and flung him against the wall._

Kikyou blinked.

"Did that actually happen?" she asked.

"That," said Inuyasha as he got up, rubbing his head, his dog ears twitching in irritation, "has got to be the _weirdest _damn thing I have ever seen. And coming from me, that says a lot."

"Kikyou, dear," Ms. Yura called, "ignore that nasty boy, now. Just give me the jewel."

"I'm sorry, I don't understand what you mean. What jewel?" Ms. Yura giggled. "Oh, now, don't be silly. I know you're _the _Higurashi. You recognized Inuyasha immediately for what he was. You passed my little test, you see. I'm sorry it had to come to this, but I couldn't let you two conspire right in front of me. If things had gone any farther, the jewel would be in his hands now, and we wouldn't want that, now, would we?"

"Excuse me, but what exactly do you – oh." She turned around to glare at Inuyasha. "That stupid _note!_"

"Don't look at me, it ain't my fault!"

"Hate to break up this little quarrel, but I just think I should let you know, dearie, that if you don't cough up that jewel in the next five seconds, my hair might get a little upset." She stroked her hair menacingly – menacingly because it was writhing under her fingers.

"Now I want_ both_ of you to listen very carefully." She made eye contact with Inuyasha first, who rolled his eyes, before turning back to Ms. Yura, who raised her eyebrows. "I. Have. No. Jewel."

Ms. Yura sighed wistfully. "Ah well then. You can't say I didn't warn you."

And suddenly Kikyou was being suffocated by her teacher's hair.

…

But before she had a chance to defend herself, the room was pierced with the sound of breaking glass.

The hair fell limp, and slowly began shrinking.

Kikyou ran her hands over her neck gratefully, straightened her posture, and stood up.

"What just happened?"

Ms. Yura rubbed her now – shortened hair. "Uhg, I think I might have drank a little too much last night –" When she got a look at Inuyasha and Kikyou, her eyes widened and she stumbled backwards. "What the – where am I? Who the hell are you people?" She looked down at her clothes. "And what am I _wearing?_"

Kikyou's feet carried her over to the phone that sat against to the wall next to the extensions card. She placed her finger on the number that would put her in touch with the school principal, and dialed it.

"Hello?" The voice was old and quavering. Kikyou was surprised. She'd never spoken with the school principal before, but had always imagined him to have a deep, commanding voice.

"Sir? Our teacher's having a bit of a mental break down. She… her mirror broke. Room 614."

"Wha –" he started to object but she hung up and walked back toward the center of the room. Ms. Yura was sitting cowering in the middle of the floor, and Inuyasha stood watching her, amused.

"So?" she asked the boy, irritated at him – okay, so she thought it was a bit funny that the grown woman was having the sort of temper tantrum one would expect from a two year old, but at least she had the tact not to smirk at it like he did.

"It was a demon mirror. She's been possessed by it. Probably since the middle of the year."

"What? How? Why? What?"

Inuyasha opened his mouth to talk again, but the door swung open and the school nurse ran in. He helped Ms. Yura to her feet, muttering reassurances to her.

"What happened?" he asked them.

Inuyasha shrugged. "Don't ask me, I don't know anything. The chick's just out of her mind, that's all."

Kikyou nudged him. "How _eloquent _of you, Inuyasha. What he means to say is that he accidentally bumped her mirror off her desk, and it broke. When she saw the pieces, she just snapped." The nurse nodded.

"Impressive lying," Inuyasha muttered, but luckily the nurse didn't hear him.

"We'll have to get you to a hospital," he said to Ms. Yura, ushering her out the door.

"Where am I? When am I?" she was asking over and over again.

The two teenagers exited the classroom and started walking down the halls. Kikyou was going to her next class, but why was Inuyasha walking by her side, she wondered? Surely he wasn't in the same advanced French class she was in.

"Well. That was strange." Inuyasha said, inspecting the back of his hand.

"I know! And you still haven't answered any of my questions. That mirror was a _what? _How did it possess Ms. Yura? And why would it _want _to possess a tenth grade global studies teacher?"

He looked up at her. "Hm? Oh, I wasn't talking about that. I meant that thing with the creepy guy."

Kikyou tilted her head in question. What the _hell _was he talking about?

He raised his voice a few octives. "If you come near me with a weapon," he placed a hand on his hip, mocking her, "it will be the last thing you ever do!"

"I hope you know you're terrible with imitations."

"Whatever. It was like, goodbye priss, hello _bitch._"

Kikyou wasn't entirely certain if she was being complimented or insulted.

"And then that thing where you were like 'It doesn't take much to kill'? Priceless."

He stopped abruptly. "You were right, you know," he said. "And unlike the hair freakazoid, or you, I actually _need _that jewel. I'd prefer to not have to kill a woman – leaves a bad taste in my mouth – but if you don't give it to me within the next week, I'll have to show you just how easy it is for that… last… breath…"

Heart-pounding fear rocked Kikyou for the second time that day, and once again her outside demeanor fell, lifeless, calm, polite.

"I do not appreciate threats."

Inuyasha shrugged. "One week. You think it over."

An elderly voice crackled over the loud speakers: "Kikyou Higurashi, please report to the principal's office."

She turned around and walked away toward the principal's office, grateful for an escape.

"One week, bitch!" he called after her.


	3. Awakening

**  
Awakening

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**

Kikyou's heart was loud in her ears as she walked toward the principal's office. Would Inuyasha really kill her when she failed to deliver this mysterious jewel to him in one week? And, almost as frightening, why was she being called to the principal's office? Was she in trouble? Or did he just have some questions about Ms. Yura?

Kikyou swung the door open and was greeted by the secretary.

"I was told to come here?"

He motioned her to a door behind his desk. "He's waiting for you in there." She couldn't tell if his expression was kind and encouraging or just plain condescending.

The door handle wouldn't work at first, and she had to jiggle it a little, but it finally gave way and the door creaked open.

The inside of the office was smaller than she'd thought it would be, and the only furniture was a desk sitting opposite a set of two chairs.

Kagome was sitting in one of the chairs.

She was wearing a green miniskirt today. Her hair was pulled back into a tie – why? That was how Kikyou did _her _hair. That specific hairdo had always belonged to her. She glowered at the underclassmen, but Kagome didn't notice.

"Heya!" she said cheerfully instead. "You look even more like me when our hair is done the same way!"

"Is there anything I can help you with?" Kikyou asked the old man sitting in the desk. She could see why he didn't venture out of his office often; this guy was _ancient,_ and such an image might not exactly strike fear in the hearts of his students.

"Please, have a seat," he croaked. She glanced down at Kagome, who was loudly popping a bubble-gum-bubble, and decided she liked the chair just where it was; between her and Kagome. "That's alright, thank you. I'll stand."

"Ah. Do either of you… know why you're here?"

"I swear I wasn't the one smoking in the girl's bathroom! That was all Kagura, I just happened to be using the bathroom at the same time –" Kagome burst out, but he interrupted her.

"That's not what I was talking about." He reached in his desk and pulled out what appeared to be a large pearl.

"Recognize this?"

"Should we?" Kagome asked. Her voice was high and nasal. Kikyou wished she'd stop talking.

"…No, why would you recognize it? It's only the _Shikon Jewel._"

"Oh, please, grandfather, not another of your stories." Kikyou's brain took a few seconds to process the information that had just been given to her. First, Kagome's grandfather was the principle of the school. And second, they were talking about a jewel together – was this the same one that had caused her so much trouble.

"Excuse me, what are you talking about?" she asked.

"My grandfather is insane," Kagome was saying. "I don't even _know_ how he got appointed the principle of a school. He's always talking about demons and stuff like that."

"How can you call my tales insanity, when you yourself see the demons?!" He was trying to shout, but it wasn't very intimidating as he had a coughing fit immediately after. What had he meant by that comment, though? Did Kagome see monsters too?

The other girl folded her arms and huffed "They're only _dreams,_ grandpa."

"I see monsters." Kikyou said loudly and clearly, interrupting their quarrel.

He chuckled. "Girls of the Higurashi line have always been gifted with The Sight. Why, my own grandmother –"

"_Grandfather_," Kagome said, "Please. She doesn't want to hear your little rant." It was true, but Kikyou thought it was rude for Kagome to say so. She felt a little bad for the old man.

"And your Global Studies teacher? Was she a dem– 'monster'?"

Kikyou shook her head. "No. I don't quite… understand it myself, but Inuyasha said she was just possessed by a 'demon mirror'."

The man's face hardened. "Stay away from that half-demon boy. He's just after the jewel." Then his face brightened again. "Speaking of the jewel! I'm going to need you to guard it for a while."

"What?"

He smiled unconvincingly. "It's not a big job, really, just keep it out of the wrong hands."

She stared at him, and he collapsed.

"All right, all right, stop giving me the third degree, would you? Yes, it's a dangerous job. The guardian of the Shikon Jewel is always on the borderline between our world and theirs. The demons will be able to touch you, hurt you…" He looked away. "Kill you." He offered a weak grin. "But, you can kill them too, if you agree to keep the jewel pure."

A rush of excitement went through her; she'd finally be able to kill the things? She wanted to say yes, but some basic survival instinct told her to be cautious. "So… why would I do this?"

"Because you're the only one that can." He looked into her eyes earnestly, and she could see that he was honestly afraid she would say no. And what would happen if she did? What made this jewel so special?

"Hey!" Kagome jumped in. "What about me? I thought you said I was gifted. Can't I be the guardian of the whatsit-jewel?" Suddenly Kikyou felt very smug. _She _had something Kagome didn't.

"You only see the demons in your sleep. You're sort of a… guardian-in-training. When Kikyou dies, then the duty will fall on you."

Kagome shivered. "So… I guess those aren't just nightmares. They're the real deal."

Kikyou was still caught on what he'd said earlier. "So… if you're saying things like 'when she dies'… it's pretty certain that I'll be dying before her, then, isn't it?" Kagome coughed nervously and her grandfather twiddled his thumbs.

Kikyou thought that the word 'death' probably should have scared her more than it did.

"So… why is this jewel so important?"

"It grants the possessor unlimited power. And if it becomes tainted with evil or impurity… it could very well bring about an apocalypse."

Kikyou's eyes widened, and her veins turned cold.

"Whoa. That's intense," Kagome muttered. Kikyou tried to stop her hand from reaching out. She heard her voice as if from far away when she said "I accept. I will guard the jewel." If she was the only one who could do it then how could she refuse? So she ignored the frantic whispers in her mind that told her to forget about it, let the world end, she didn't care much for it anyways. Even if that was true, she did care about one thing: herself. She couldn't let the deaths of a million strangers tarnish her good name, even if she was among them.

Mr. Higurashi placed the jewel in her hands and the weight of the world on her shoulders.

"One more thing," he said, twiddling his thumbs again. "This is a bit awkward, but… the Guardian is forbidden from partaking in… er… overly physical forms of intimacy. It… uh… would taint the jewel."

Kagome snorted. "She can't have sex?" She shot Kikyou a pitying look. "Girl, I'd hate to be you right now."

"Because you're a slut." Kikyou refrained from saying. She nodded grimly in agreement.

…

Tsubaki was waiting for her when she got out of the principal's office, the jewel safely hanging from a string around her neck, safely hidden below her shirt.

"So. The goody-two shoes had to go see the big bad principal. And is that – Kagome leaving, too?" Tsubaki looked like she was about to have a laughing fit. "Oh, did you two have a catfight?" Kikyou rolled her eyes. It seemed like Tsubaki was always looking for something to gossip about.

"Maybe. Hey, what was our science homework again?"

"Why don't you ever pay attention in that class?"

Kikyou shrugged, and kept her eyes trained ahead. After fifteen years of pretending she _didn't _see monsters left and right, she had perfected a million ways to lie effectively, but she was tired now and she didn't feel like getting into an evasive conversation.

"Everything… okay?" Tsubaki asked. Kikyou couldn't tell if she was being nice or nosy.

"Yes. Everything's fine," Kikyou said just before a large monster with six legs and twice as many eyes dropped down from the ceiling.

* * *

A/N:  
I'm starting to feel like this story is the love child of Bleach, xxxholic, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer... XD  
Oh. And I have to say something. While it is no secret that I despise Kagome with the passion of a thousand lightbulbs, I'm not trying to use my story to bash her character. I realize that this chapter came suspiciously close to Kagome-flaming, but rest assured that I will give even my least favorite characters their chances to shine, including Kagome. XD. So... if you're a Kagome fan and you were annoyed by the way I've portrayed her so far... just keep reading. Puwease?  
Oh. And as always, reviews are muchly appreciated.


	4. The Mother of Hate is Fear

A/N: Holy crap, this chapter is violent. Since when am I so into writing fight scenes?

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**Chapter Four: The Mother of Hate is Fear**

Much to Kikyou's surprise, Tsubaki was the first to react. Her arm shot out and she caught the thing by its ear, pulled its head down to the floor, and kicked one of its eyes.

Kikyou was in a state of shock. It took her a moment to realize that somehow, Tsubaki could not only see the monster, but make physical contact with it. "How?" she asked, and Tsubaki said, "Not now," as she continued to pummel the thing into the ground.

As nice as it was to still be in all in one piece, Kikyou was not so fond of the fact that, once again, someone else was rescuing her. She had the shikon jewel, now, didn't she? Why wasn't she the one killing the monster?

Before she could jump in and join the fray, Tsubaki was _reaching into the monster's chest_. Her arm, now coated in thick, black blood tensed. Was she squeezing its heart? Kikyou tried to be disgusted with it all, tried to muster some sympathy for the thing as its eyeballs bulged, but found it a bit hard. Monsters were the ones who had been screwing with her life for fifteen years. Why shouldn't she delight in their pain?

As if taking offense to Kikyou's unspoken thoughts, the monster squealed before falling over, dead. Its mouth, filled with sharp teeth, hung open.

Tsubaki, her right arm still covered in the black liquid, turned to Kikyou.

"So," she said, "I'm pretty sure it was going after you. Which means you have the jewel. Which is totally unfair." Was that bitterness in her voice? "For you, I mean." She clarified, turning back around to stare at the fallen monster. She pulled a small blue pouch out of her pocket, and reached inside, bringing out a small pinch of powder. She let it fall on the body of the monster, and it immediately turned to dust.

Kikyou cleared her throat. "Forgive me, but what the hell is going on here?"

"I'm not like other girls," Tsubaki told her, shoving the pouch back into her pocket.

"Yes, I kind of figured that out. Are you a monster?"

Tsubaki folded her arms in front of her chest. "Not… exactly. Look, that's a conversation for another day. Right now, I have a proposition for you. Sit." Kikyou gave her a strange look, but after seeing the girl shove a hand through a monster's chest, she wasn't eager to disagree with her. She sat down at the edge of the hallway, propping herself up against the wall and folding her legs.

Tsubaki started pacing. "You know," she began, "I was, like, tight with Midoriko. We were like this." She folded her middle finger over her index finger. Before Kikyou could ask who Midoriko was, Tsubaki was talking again. "Okay, so we weren't all that tight. If you really want to be all technical about it, I didn't even know the chick. Not personally, anyways. But, I saw her around. I like to keep tabs on the people around here. Know how everyone ticks. Like, I heard you got in a fight with Jakotsu, right?" How had Tsubaki heard about her argument with Jakotsu? Kikyou thought about how Tsubaki collected gossip and rumors like squirrels collect nuts in the fall.

"So that means you should watch your back, 'cause otherwise Bankotsu is going to do a number on it. He and his little gang of seven stick up for each other, and he's super protective of Jakotsu. And just like I know all that, I knew Midoriko really well, even if she never knew me. And she was a lot like you. All goody-two-shoes and stuff. Like, she was a really together person." She paused for a moment, and Kikyou had to keep from scoffing. Tsubaki didn't know Kikyou as well as she thought she did if she thought this together, goody-two-shoed Midoriko was anything like her.

"Then she was slapped with the duty of protecting the shikon jewel," Kikyou's eyes widened. "Everything was different. Her grades crashed. She had to quit all her clubs, and break up with her boyfriend, all so she could focus on keeping the jewel pure. Her whole life was totally ruined. I felt so bad for her." Tsubaki put on a sympathetic face, but it seemed forced to Kikyou. "Then, uh, she died. It was very sad." Kikyou's stomach plummeted. She suddenly did feel close to this Midoriko; she'd given her life for something she didn't even understand, something Kikyou was apparently willing to do.

"And I'd hate for that to happen to someone else. You've got a pretty decent life, what with the grades and the archery thing. Already that jewel has caused you more trouble than it's worth, right? You've got a lot going for you, and why should you throw it all away for that puny jewel?"

"…Um, because if I don't, there's going to be an apocalypse?"

Tsubaki frowned. "Right. Which is where my proposition comes in. I'll take care of the jewel for you; I'm better equipped for this sort of thing. All you'd have to do is relinquish the Higurashi name to me, and–"

"What?" Kikyou asked, perplexed.

"The name. It has power for some reason. The jewel rejects anyone without it."

"How do you know?"

Tsubaki didn't answer.

"It can't fall into the wrong hands." Tsubaki nodded. "Right. I promise I'll keep it totally wrong-hand-free."

Kikyou stared at her. "You're not getting it." Tsubaki's eyes widened. "Oh. I see. You think my hands are of the 'wrong' variety."

Kikyou stood up and turned away. "Don't take it personally," she muttered. "This was a responsibility given to me, and to me alone." As she walked away, she could almost hear Tsubaki's mind at work.

"Don't worry!" Tsubaki called after her. "No hard feelings." And Kikyou wanted more than anything to believe her even though her voice was angry and stubborn. A string of giggles flew through the air, and she whipped back around to see if Tsubaki was following her, but instead she saw Kagome walking with one of her friends.

The evidence of Tsubaki's fight with the monster was now non-existant. Kikyou stepped in front of them, and Kagome's friend cleared her throat. "May I please speak with you for a moment?" Kagome nodded. Kikyou stared at her and widened her eyes, and Kagome started. "Oh. Right. Hey, can you give us a minute?" The girl raised her eyebrows before she skipped off in the opposite direction.

"Great." Kagome sighed. "Now she thinks we're lesbians."

Kikyou felt like puking_. Don't worry so much_, she wanted to say. _I'm sure everyone knows that even if I did swing that way, I wouldn't come near you._

"Your grandfather never told me exactly how to kill the monsters."

Kagome tapped a finger on her lip. "I'm not sure he knows. In my dreams, though…"

"Before you say anything, does this in any way involve squeezing their hearts?"

Kagome gave her an odd look. "Um, no. Can I finish please?"

"In my dreams, I shoot them with an arrow. It's weird. Like, I don't have the bow and arrows before the monsters start showing up, but they just sort of appear out of nowhere when I need them. And I suck at archery in real life, so I dunno… maybe it's a dream thing?" Kikyou nodded and sighed. What did this mean? Was she supposed to carry her bows and arrows with her wherever she went?

Kikyou turned away hurriedly, hoping she could still make it to the buses on time. "Wait up!" Kagome said, and Kikyou paused, barely concealing her frown before turning back to face her.

"What?"

"I get the feeling you don't like me." Kikyou was very confused by this statement – since when was Kagome smart enough to figure that out? Of course, there was the chance that she just acted like a dumb slut. The idea that Kagome was smarter than she seemed made Kikyou a little bit uneasy.

Maybe Kikyou's emotion-concealing-skills were slipping a bit. She made a mental note to work on that, then forced a congenial smile on her face.

"I'm sorry I gave that impression."

"So you do like me?"

"…'Like' is such a strong word."

"Look, what did I ever do to you?"

Kikyou wasn't sure what to say. Kagome had a point; sure she was annoying as hell, and sure, her skirts were ridiculously short, but the same could be said for half the girls in the school. What about Kagome in particular was so horrid that the mere sight of her sent chills down Kikyou's spine?

It felt like the shikon jewel was throbbing against her chest, and suddenly the answer was obvious; death. She had known it before she'd even laid eyes on the jewel. Death was intangible, but Kagome, who would become the new jewel-guardian when it claimed Kikyou, was not.

"You were born to replace me, and you're asking why I'm not showering you with praise?" Kagome's mouth hung open for a second. Kikyou rushed away before Kagome could try and talk logic with her; of course it wasn't Kagome's fault that she had been chosen, through some weird twist of fate, to receive these dreams, but that didn't change the fact that she could – she would – replace her when she was gone.


End file.
